1 . Long ago, poems were recited loud instead of being written down. Back when the Greeks first started the Olympics, they held poetry _________ as well as athletic competitions.

Now, poetry competitions have been revived. This year 120,000 high school students competed in the first Poetry Out Loud national recitation competition,_________ poems from memory for $100,000 in prize money.

The first competitions were held in classrooms. The winners went on to school wide contests, and then they competed in city and state competitions. _________, the 50 state champions, along with the _________ of the District of Columbia came to Washington D.C. last week for the last showdown. After the 51 champions competed _________ another, 12 went on to the _________. Then the field was narrowed to five. The final five had one last chance to “perform” a poem. The overall champ, Jackson Hille, a high school senior from Ohio,_________ a $20,000 scholarship. The National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation _________ Poetry Out Loud, because they realized that hearing a poem performed is a different experience from _________ it on a page.

It’s not just a matter of saying the words in the right order. It’s the tone of __________, the pauses, the gestures and the attitude of the person performing that bring the__________ to life. “Each time we hear somebody recite a poem, we understand again what we found __________ and interesting about it,” said National Public Radio Broadcaster Scott Simon, master of ceremonies for the finals. Hearing it in a new voice offers something new to the listeners.

Not only do the people hearing poems have a(n) __________ experience, but__________ and presenting poems helps the participants understand those poems in a new way. Another __________ of a competition such as Poetry Out Loud is that the participants learn public speaking skills that can help them for life.

2 . My parents, siblings (兄弟姐妹) and I took our first camping trip to the Lake Houston Wilderness Park recently.

We had finished putting up the _________ when it suddenly started to rain. Luckily, we had _________ our tent on a high flat ground where water could not pour in. Mom got some snacks and drinks ready for us while we played games and _________ about our daily life, which made wet-weather camping fun. How _________ it was camping under the sound of the rain! We were gathered around in the center of _________ and it was a nice feeling. Even with the rain, I had never been so _________.

The rain died down before dark and the sky turned clear. Soon, Mom _________ a big meal over the fire for the family. I sensed that a hot meal and good _________ would warm us right up. While we ate together, Dad _________ at the stars and told us about his childhood. As we laughed and __________ on our days, the stars shone like diamonds at night.

The following day, we had a good time __________ the rocky trails around our campsite. __________ hiking in the forest, we had a lovely late afternoon boating. It was amazing to see the __________ changing rays of the sunset behind the pine trees. That evening we packed up our __________ and headed home.

I am very grateful for this camping trip, which has left us unforgettable __________.

3 . The most unforgettable thing during my long summer holiday last year, of course was my trip _______ England. This was my first time to go abroad, so it really made me _______.

There were quite a lot of interesting places in England, _______ Oxford. When we walked around Oxford, we saw quite a lot of ancient buildings on _______ sides of the streets. One of the most famous tourist _______ in Oxford is Christ Church, it’s _______ one of the Oxford University’s 39 colleges. There is a huge hall in Christ Church, _______ was used as the dining hall at Hogwarts in the Harry Potter _______. I felt really excited when I heard this.

_______ place that impressed me ____________ during my trip was a place called Stratford upon Avon. It was a small town. Maybe you haven’t ____________ it, but I’m sure you have heard about William Shakespeare — it’s the great man’s ____________. In Stratford upon Avon, I could ____________ Shakespeare’s Birthplace, Shakespeare Countryside Museum, the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, and a lot of places that are connected with ______________.

I went to Shakespeare’s Birthplace. It was the house ______________ Shakespeare was born and spent his early years. Its sitting room, hallway (走廊), bedrooms, and kitchen were furnished (布置) in 16th century style. I also went to see the Shakespeare Exhibition. It illustrated (以图解说明) Shakespeare’s life and career in both Stratford and London.

I really enjoyed this nice trip to England, from which I learned a lot. I’m very happy that I could visit such an interesting country. I want to go there again in the future.

4 . Standing on the edge of the plane, my tandem skydiving (双人跳伞) instructor, Bill, turned to face me. “Do you have any last words?” he asked. “Yes,” I said, joking. “I hope my parachute (降落伞) ________.”

I’d never felt more alive as Bill and I ________ and started our free fall. As we reached 4,000 feet, I felt a parachute open. This, I was told, would slow us down for a smooth ________. But why were we still ________ so fast? I could hear Bill swearing as he tried to ________ whatever had gone wrong.

Worse still, our emergency parachute unexpectedly got ________ on something. At that moment, I just felt so ________ that I’d even invited my family along to experience sorrow instead of watching my wonderful performance.

We ________ the ground. An unimaginable pain shot up my back. Feeling weak and tired out, I gathered all my ________, and turned to face Bill. He started screaming. From my neck down, I could hardly ________. My mother couldn’t help crying as we were placed into a(n) ________ from the hospital.

After years of treatment, the deep physical and mental pain is ________. I heard Bill made a full ________ and returned to skydiving.

I was always terrified of being myself and doing the things I wanted. Now I’ve learned I need to be ________. There’s nothing like falling from 15,000 feet without a parachute and surviving. It forces me to ________ every day!

6 . This morning, when 1 shaved in the mirror. I found my body was growing older. There was no doubt about it My __ which used to be brown with a touch of gray was now gray with a touch of brown. There was even so __ hair left on the top of the head. My forehead wrinkles appeared when I smiled I thought about letting my __ grow for a second but I didn't really want to look like Father Christmas.

When 1 stepped back. I could see I had become __ as well. It's because while my metabolism (新陈代谢)had __ ，my eating hadn't. My muscles were painful and my body was also __ , However, the work must go on. ______ was my deepest love. An article in my __ seemed to be formed I was thinking of writing the words down in case 1 would __ them when 1 came into my study. When I looked in the mirror again. I ____ and felt a joy in my heart. 1 thought that no matter how old I looked my soul was forever ______. The truth is while I have been gradually growing older on the outside, 1 have been for a while. growing younger on the inside. I can remember how serious, __ _ and worried I was in my twenties and thirties. I often felt the burden of life was _____ heavy. But now at fifty, my heart feels __ and my days look brighter. 1 have more faith and less fear. In the end. all of our bodies will __ and die. but our soul won’t.

7 . The Smilodon and the Tiger

The smilodon (剑齿虎) died out probably about ten thousand years ago._______it is also known as the saber-toothed tiger, it was not a_______relative of the modern tiger. The more scientists_______the two big cats, the more_______they find.

Tigers are not_______animals. They generally travel by themselves. The smilodon, on the other hand, probably_______in groups. Tigers run fast while_______their prey (猎物). But the smilodon, with much_______tails than today’s tigers, did not have the balance to run at_______speeds. It probably caught its prey by________quietly until an animal came near. Then, the smilodon would________its prey.

Another main difference between today’s tiger and the smilodon is the size of the smilodon’s________. It is known as a saber-toothed cat________two huge teeth that grew from the top of its jaw (颌). These teeth grew up to nearly 18 cm long and were easily________and damaged. The smilodon probably used the teeth to bite into________parts of its prey’s body, such as its stomach. A modern tiger's teeth are much smaller, but they are________.

The smilodon lived in North and South America from about two million years ago until about ten thousand years ago. Tigers,________, still exist today and live in eastern and southeastern Asia. No one knows for sure why the smilodon________. However, scientists do know that many of today’s tiger species are in danger of________because of human activity. So it is important to________tigers and many other animals.

8 . Mr Wu is an English teacher. Last Monday at the beginning of class, he _______ asked his students how their weekends had been. One girl said that she had spent a _______ weekend-she had her wisdom teeth pulled out and they still hurt. “Why do you always seem to be so happy, Mr Wu?” she asked.

The girl's _______ reminded Mr Wu of something he had read somewhere before. “Every morning when you get up, you have a choice about how you want to get close to life that day,” Mr Wu said with a smile. “I _______ to be cheerful.”

“And today is my lucky day,”he added.

“_______? " The whole class were curious.

“This morning, I _______ to school as usual. I only had to go another kilometer down the road when my e-bike broke down...”

“Your e-bike broke down and it's your lucky day?” The students were _______. “What do you mean, Mr Wu?”

“My e-bike broke down a quarter before class, so I _______ it on the roadside, took my books, and walked down the road. It took me ten minutes to arrive at the _______. I live eight kilometers away. My e-bike could have broken down ________ along the way. But it didn't. __________, it broke down in the perfect place-off the main road, within walking distance of here. I'm still able to teach my class ________ I'll be able to get it repaired after class. If my e-bike must break down ________,it couldn't be arranged（安排）in a better way.”

The students’ eyes opened wide, and then they smiled. Mr Wu smiled back. Somehow, his story had ________ them. He was happy that they had a perfect chance to consider ________ in a new way.

9 . I've started driving again. I drive along a road _______ 12 years ago near my home. As I drove tonight, I _______Kelly.

Kelly was a _______ when it was constructed. She and her brother were _______ by her father after her mother passed away. By her own _______, she was a _______ child, climbing out of windows, staying out drinking etc. She started to settle in college. The year after I taught her, a _______ thing happened.

It was about this time of year and Kelly's dad was about to turn to the new road. Since he was not _______ with it, he had a deadly accident. The lecturers sent her a _______ card. I wrote that I would help her with one of the 6 ________she still had to complete. I knew it would be difficult for Kelly but I ________ to help her anyway.

At that time I had just ________ my marriage and was living in rented accommodation alone. Things were ________but I committed myself to helping Kelly. I brought her to my home and I ________ her the full unit. I got her to complete all the assignments at my home ________ she could stay focused. Kelly made ________ in the unit I taught her, which fundamentally helped raise her overall grades. Kelly's lecturer was so ________ with this that she got Kelly to ________ to the rest of the class！At last Kelly completed her course. I was so glad she didn't ________.

A few years ago I met Kelly. She was pushing a pram（婴儿车）, her baby sleeping soundly. It's the least she ________.